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Those characteristics make it a natural to pair with autumnal menus.

Brown ales typically come in three styles: American, English and Belgian. For the sake of argument over styles, I'm using Beer-Advocate.com's style categorization for these beers.

The British version has plenty of great options out there. The Newcastle Brown is available just about everywhere and a common sight on tap. Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale is highly rated and only slightly harder to find. Two Texas examples are the Real Ale Brewhouse Brown and Saint Arnold's Brown Ale, both quite tasty.

American browns tend to be similar to an English in style, but use American ingredients and a stronger hop bite, especially from the West Coast brewers. A nice example available locally is Bootlegger Brown Ale from Austin's Independence Brewing. Rounded and smooth, like most beers from this brewery, it pleases the masses. To go the other direction, look to Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron. BeerAdvocate.com labels it as an American brown ale, but this one is aged in a massive barrel made of palo santo wood from Paraguay. It is incredibly intense and wine-like.

The Belgian style is a little harder to find and a different animal. Not an official style, it can be hard to categorize. The easiest to find is New Belgium's 1554 Enlightened Black Ale. My favorite is Brewery Ommegang's Rare Vos, categorized by the brewer as an amber ale. It's far more intense than a typical amber and a show-stopper at a party when you pop the Champagne-style caged cork.

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Eric Braun is beer columnist for the San Antonio Express-News. You can follow him at twitter.com/ebraun or